The corporate venturing unit of Swiss-based consumer goods company Nestle has invested up to €10.5m ($13.8m) in pharmaceutical company Phosphate Therapeutics.
Inventages Venture Capital has invested the money at the same time as the company has signed an exclusive agreement with the UK’s Medical Research Council to acquire the global rights to PT20, a phosphate binder used to treat one of the symptoms of late stage renal disease, hyperphosphataemia.
Phosphate Therapeutics is led by Carl Sterrit, who is also chief executive of Inventages portfolio company Shield Therapeutics.
Walter Stockinger, principal of Inventages, said: "Phosphate Therapeutics was founded just recently by a management team we know very well. Inventages took a leading role as an investor to launch this company with a very promising product which will be tested in pivotal trials shortly. Because of the nature of the product, the excellent work carried out by the MRC, and our relationship with the team we believe the product can be launched in the shortest time possible. "
He added: "We are excited to work on this project with our partners from Phosphate Therapeutics. The treatment of hyperphosphataemia is clearly an area with large unmet medical need and we are convinced that PT20 will improve the quality of life and the outcome for a group of patients who suffer from chronic kidney disease. PT20 has shown superior clinical efficacy in early studies and has a lower than normal development risk, making this project the ideal candidate for our funds. Phosphate Therapeutics is working with an experienced team that we have come to know very well and we trust in their ability to bring the product to the market in the shortest possible time."
The PT20 programme was initially backed by the Medical Research Council’s Development Gap Fund and the deal was negotiated by Medical Research Council’s technology transfer agent MRC Technology.